Willingness of snail consumers to choose snail production as livelihoods in Ibadan Southwest Local Government Area of Oyo State, Nigeria

Snails are common in the rainforest region especially during the rainy season, but its population in the wild is decreasing due to human and environmental activities. This affect quantity available for consumption and it prompts the reason to encourage snail production. The study examined snail consumer’s willingness to choose snail production as means of livelihoods. Snowball sampling technique was used to select 120 consumers. Data were obtained through questionnaires and analysed using descriptive and correlation analyses. The result shows that many (60%) of the respondents were male, 48.7% were married with an average income of ₦78,983.64 and 37 years of age. Level of snail consumption was high (63.4%) and more than 50% were willing to choose snail production as a means of livelihood. Meanwhile, poor supply of feeding materials (43.5%) and inadequate skills in snail rearing (39.1%) were perceived as major constraints. Correlation result shows significant relationship between age (r = 0.346, p < 0.05), level of snail consumption (r = 0.200, p < 0.05) and willingness to choose snail production as means of livelihoods. The study concluded that people that consume more snails were willing to choose snail production. It is recommended that concerned agencies for capacity building should consider training people especially snail consumers in snail production and provide palliative resources to overcome challenges in snail production for sustainability and transformation of the agricultural system.Keywords: consumers, willingness to choose, snail production, constraints and livelihood

Investigation of the socioeconomic activities and potentials of rural fisher folks in Oyan Lake Area

An investigation of the socio-economic potential of the inhabitants living around Oyan lake (40km2 surface area) was carried out between January 2001 and August 2002. Five hundred (500) copies of the questionnaires were distributed among the people living around the entire stretch of the lake and 283 people responded. The commercial fish landing estimates showed that the total landing for the entire period of study was 4,628 (number) weighing 1,856.6kg. Mean catch per boat per sampling day (number and weight) was estimated to be 113 and 4.28kg respectively. Therefore the estimated annual fish landing (number and weight) per boat from 317 fishing days were 35,821 and 1,356.7kg respectively. The potential annual fish yield from commercial fishery for the lake was 147.5 tonnes while the total number of active boats recorded for the entire lake was 43,241

Determination of cyanide concentration in blood and histopathological effect of cassava waste-based feeding on goats

Cassava (Manihot esculenta) is a major staple food for both humans and animals and feeding goats with its waste is common practice in southwest Nigeria. However, it contains endogenous cyanogenic glycosides that are readily hydrolyzed to liberate hydrogen cyanide that is poisonous. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of cassava waste (peels and leaves) on the kidney and liver of goats fed different inclusion level and determine the cyanide concentration in the blood of the goats. Ten West African dwarf male goats were divided into five groups and fed four diets of cassava waste ad-libitum for 16 weeks. Diet 1; 70% peels and 10% leaves, Diet 2; 50% peels and 20% leaves, Diet 3; 30% peels and 30% leaves, Diet 4; 10% peels and 40% leaves while the control were fed grass only. Blood samples were collected before the onset of the feeding, at the 8th week and 16th week. There were no clinical manifestation of cyanide poisoning in the animals and the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) shows that haematological and biochemical parameters were not significantly different (p<0.05) across the 4 diets. High concentration of cyanide (80 ppm) was observed in the blood of animals fed Diet 4. Also the histopathological lesions of liver and kidney were more severe in animals fed Diet 4. The study therefore concludes that the high  concentration of cyanide and the severity of the histopathology finding in Diet 4 can be attributed to the higher level of cassava leaves in the diet and hence, the leaves should be further processed before been feeding to goats.Keywords: Cassava waste, Cyanide, Histopathology, Liver, Kidney, Goats. Determination du taux de cyanure dans le sang et effet histopathologique de l’alimentation a base de dechets de manioc sur les caprinsLe manioc (Manihot esculenta) est un aliment de base à la fois pour les humains et les animaux, et l’alimentation des chèvres avec les déchets de cette plante est une pratique courante dans le sud-ouest du Nigeria.  Cependant, le manioc contient des glycosides cyanogénétiquess  endogènes qui sont facilement hydrolysés pour libérer du cyanure d’hydrogène qui est toxique. Cette étude a pour objectif d’évaluer l’effet des déchets de manioc (pelures et feuilles) sur les reins et le foie des chèvres nourries à différents niveaux d’inclusion et de déterminer le taux de cyanure dans le sang des chèvres. Dix chèvres naines d’Afrique de l’Ouest ont été divisées en cinq groupes et nourries ad libitum pendant 16 semaines avec quatre régimes contenant des déchets de manioc. Le Régime 1 comportait 70% de pelures et 10% de feuilles ; le Régime 2 était constitué de 50% de pelures et 20% de feuilles ; le Régime 3 était composé de 30% de pelures et 30% de feuilles ; le Régime 4 comportait 10% de pelures et 40% de feuilles ; tandis que le régime témoin n’était constitué que d’herbe. Des échantillons de sang ont été prélevés avant le début de l’administration des régimes, à la 8ème semaine et à la 16ème semaine. On n’a noté aucune manifestation clinique d’intoxication au cyanure chez les animaux et l’Analyse de Variance (ANOVA) a montré que les paramètres hématologiques et biochimiques n’étaient pas  significativement différents (p <0,05) dans les 4 régimes. Un taux élevé de cyanure (80 ppm) a été détecté dans le sang des animaux soumis au Régime 4. Les lésions histopathologiques du foie et des reins étaient plus sévères chez les animaux nourris au Régime 4. L’étude conclut donc que le taux élevé de cyanure et la sévérité du résultat histopathologique dans le régime 4 peut être attribué à une importante inclusion de feuilles de manioc dans le régime et, par conséquent, les feuilles doivent être traitées avant d’être données aux chèvres comme aliments.Mots-clés : déchets de manioc, Cyanure, Histopathologie, foie, rein, caprin